Wednesday's letters: You would think ...’

Published: Wednesday, March 13, 2013 at 4:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, March 12, 2013 at 6:38 p.m.

You would think that before the Flat Rock Village Council proceeds to spend upward of $2 million for the purchase of the Highland Lake golf course to develop it into a park, it would be sure that such an expenditure is what the majority of Flat Rock residents want.

Since this project has been under consideration for months, the Village asked residents to respond to an online survey or to send emails expressing their feelings about this very expensive venture. There are 3,127 residents in Flat Rock. The total number of “in favor” responses from the online survey and emails was only 163 residents. That is only 5.2 percent of all the residents of Flat Rock!

Several residents in attendance stated that they felt the financial cost data, which was presented to mitigate the need for an increase in taxes at some point in the future, was substantially understated. One resident suggested that a written vote should be taken before the council goes forward with this purchase, but that suggestion seemed to be ignored.

The Council will be voting on this important matter Thursday.

Mike Loftus

Flat Rock

Not a leader

To the editor: Politician, yes. Leader, no.

Not surprisingly, we see in the news recently that our president rejected the idea of his having budget-cut flexibility regarding the sequestration funding cuts. At his recent “rally” in a Virginia shipyard (clearly meant to demonize his opposition in Congress — and those hateful, uncaring Republicans!), he stated that he didn’t want to have to choose between “funding for the disabled kid, or the poor kid.”

I’m sure he didn’t, because that would have meant he would offend some people, i.e. voters. Sorry, Mr. President, but that’s the difference between a leader and a politician. Leaders sometimes have to make tough decisions. More and more, we the people are seeing exactly what he is. And it’s clearly not a leader, I’m sad to say.

<p>You would think that before the Flat Rock Village Council proceeds to spend upward of $2 million for the purchase of the Highland Lake golf course to develop it into a park, it would be sure that such an expenditure is what the majority of Flat Rock residents want.</p><p>Since this project has been under consideration for months, the Village asked residents to respond to an online survey or to send emails expressing their feelings about this very expensive venture. There are 3,127 residents in Flat Rock. The total number of in favor responses from the online survey and emails was only 163 residents. That is only 5.2 percent of all the residents of Flat Rock!</p><p>Several residents in attendance stated that they felt the financial cost data, which was presented to mitigate the need for an increase in taxes at some point in the future, was substantially understated. One resident suggested that a written vote should be taken before the council goes forward with this purchase, but that suggestion seemed to be ignored.</p><p>The Council will be voting on this important matter Thursday.</p><p><em>Mike Loftus</em></p><p><em>Flat Rock</em></p><h3>Not a leader</h3>
<p>To the editor: Politician, yes. Leader, no.</p><p>Not surprisingly, we see in the news recently that our president rejected the idea of his having budget-cut flexibility regarding the sequestration funding cuts. At his recent rally in a Virginia shipyard (clearly meant to demonize his opposition in Congress  and those hateful, uncaring Republicans!), he stated that he didn’t want to have to choose between funding for the disabled kid, or the poor kid.</p><p>I’m sure he didn’t, because that would have meant he would offend some people, i.e. voters. Sorry, Mr. President, but that’s the difference between a leader and a politician. Leaders sometimes have to make tough decisions. More and more, we the people are seeing exactly what he is. And it’s clearly not a leader, I’m sad to say.</p><p><em>John Knapp</em></p><p><em>Hendersonville</em></p>